“How can I [understand],” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”

— Acts 8:31

I wonder if Philip saw that moment coming. The Spirit of God surely did.

Some years ago our family lived in a community of townhouses. We knew we were there for a greater reason than simply to raise our two young sons. We were called to be an example to the people around us of what Jesus was like.

We prayed for various families around us. We hoped to gain a sense of whom God was working on. One day, though, a neighbor from a ways down the row of houses stopped my wife and asked, “Can I ask you some questions about church and faith?”

We didn’t see that coming! We hadn’t prayed for her. But that didn’t mean God wasn’t working on her.

In fact, God is working on all kinds of people all of the time. He may even be working on a person you least expect. So don’t be surprised when that coworker who annoys you sits down at the lunch table to ask what’s different about you. Or when a classmate who acts like they have it all together asks you to pray for them. Somehow they know you have a connection with God.

What would happen if we began every day knowing that God has already been at work in the people around us, some of whom we might talk with that day? How could that change the way you go about your day?

God, you work in mysterious ways. Give us eyes and ears and the right words to say so that we can be your witnesses everywhere each day. Amen.